Spike or bolt puller



Jan. 1, 1957 G. T. SHERMAN SPIKE 0R BOLT FULLER Filed March 16, 1954 IN V EN TOR.

A 7' TORIVEYS United States Patent SPIKE 0R BOLT PULLER George T. Sherman, Medford, Greg.

Application March 16, 1954, Serial No. 416,601

. 1 Claim. (Cl. 254-27) This invention relates to a spike or bolt puller and has for its primary object to extract from a work piece a spike or bolt extending thereinto.

Another object is to extract the shank of the spike or bolt from the work in a rectilinear path so as to avoid bending the shank during the extraction thereof.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this invention which embodies among its features a fulcrum, a lever carried adjacent one end by the fulcrum to move in an a-rcuate path adjacent work engaged by the fulcrum, a shank engaging jaw carried by the lever to move adjacent the fulcrum about an axis which extends transversely across the arcuate path, and sharpened edges carried by the jaw for engaging and penetrating as the lever is moved in the arcuate path successive increments of opposite sides of a shank extending into the work to extract the shank from the work in a path substantially normal to the work.

Other features include a cam face carried by the jaw adjacent one side thereof and extending transversely across the axis in spaced relation thereto, and a leaf spring carried by the lever and engaging the cam face for yiel-dingly holding the jaw in a selected angular position relative to the longitudinal axis of the lever.

Still other features include a starting claw carried by the lever and extending longitudinally from the end thereof remote from the fulcrum.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view through a piece of work having a spike extending thereinto and showing a spike or bolt puller according to the present invention in position on the spike after the head of the spike 'has been lifted to partially extract the shank from the work;

Figure 2 is a view showing an extractor in use lifting the head of a spike from the work;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the head lifting claw of the extractor of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the puller in the act of lifting the spike;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side view of a modified form of the invention; and

Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 7-7 of Figure 6.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the illustrated bolt or spike puller, generally designated 10, comprises a fulcrum foot 12 having pivotally connected to the upper end as at 14 a lug 15 depending from a lever 16. The lug 15 is located near to and spaced from one end of the lever 16. Carried by the lever and projecting 1ongitudinally from the end thereof remote from the fulcrum 12 is an extractor claw 18 which is adapted to engage beneath the head of a bolt or spike B, the shank S of which is embedded in work W, as will be readily understood upon reference to the drawings. As shown in Figure 2, the claw 18 functions in a manner similar to 2,776,108 Fatented Jan. 1, 1957 a conventional claw-type tack puller in order to start thebol-t or spike B out of the work, as suggested by the dotted lines in Figure 2.

Pivotallymounted on one end of the lever 16 as at 20 for movement about an axis extending crosswise of the lever 16 is a jaw 22, comprising a substantially rectangular flat plate 24 having a shank receiving notch 26 which opens through one side edge of the plate 24 for receiving the shank S of a spike or bolt B. As illustrated in the drawings, the opposite walls of the notch are in spaced parallel relation but are inclined to the upper and lower faces of the jaw 26 to define sharpened edges 28 and 30 which are adapted to engage opposite sides of the shank S to exert lifting elfort thereon when the lever 16 is depressed toward the work W. The

- freeend of the jaw 22 is beveled as at 32 so that as the lever 16 is moved in a direction to advance the jaw 22 toward the work W, the jaw may move freely downwardly with relation to the shank S of the spike or bolt B that is being extracted from the work.

In the modified form of the invention, illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 a depending fulcrum lug 12' is formed integrally with the lever 16 and extends laterally outwardly therefrom adjacent one end thereof. The arm 12 is provided with an arcuate foot 34 serving as a rocker which bears on the work and on which the arm 12 is supported and the foot 34 defines a fulcrum which bears on the work for enabling the lever 16 to rock in an arcuate path adjacent the work. Pivotally connected as at 20 to the lever 16' adjacent the arm 12' is a jaw member designated generally 22 which moves in an arcuate path adjacent one side of the lever 16' and is provided with a slot 26' corresponding in all respects to the slot or recess 26 in the jaw member 24. Carried by the jaw member 22' and extending upwardly adjacent one side of the end of the lever 16' to which the jaw member 22' is pivoted is a flat 36 which extend-s transversely relative to and spaced from the axis of the pivot 20'. A lug 38 is carried by the lever 16 and projects late-rally outwardly therefrom adjacent the fulcrum 12' and secured to said lug as by screws 40 is a leaf spring 42 which, as illustrated in Figure 6, bears on the flat 36 of the jaw member 22.

In use, the claw 18 is engaged with the head of the bolt or spike B to start the extraction thereof from the work W, as illustrated in Figure 2. When the head of the bolt or spike B has been lifted to the maximum extent by the claw 18, the fulcrum 1-2 is placed on the work W, as illustrated in Figure 1, with the shank S of the partially extracted spike or bolt B entering the recess 26 in the jaw member 22. With the jaw member thus partially embracing the shank S, the lever 16 is moved about the pivot 14 of the fulcrum 12 to exert lifting effort on the shank S by the engagement of the sharpened edges 28 and 30 with the shank S. As the shank S is partially extracted from the work W by the jaw member 22, the lever 16 is moved in the opposite direction to move the jaw member 22 downwardly along the shank S to cause the sharpened edges 28 to engage the shank in spaced relation to its first engagement therewith so that by repeated rocking of the lever 16, the jaw member is caused to take a fresh grip on the shank S and the spike or bolt B will be extracted in successive steps in a rectilinear path which lies substantially normal to the work.

In employing the type of puller illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, the foot 3-4 of the arm 12 is disposed upon the surface of the work with the slot or recess 26' receiving the shank of the bolt or spike to be extracted from the work. By advancing the lever 16' toward the work, it will rock on the curved surface of the foot 34 to move the jaw member 22 away from the work with the sharpened edges of the opposite Walls of the recess 26' engaging opposite sides of the shank being extracted. As reverse movement is applied to the lever 16', the sharpened edges of the jaw member 22' will in effect ratchet along the opposite sides of the shank under the influence of the spring 42 so that as soon as reverse motion is applied to the lever 16', the sharpened edges of the jaw member 22' will engage and partially penetrate opposite sides of the shank being extracted. By using either of the devices described, it is obvious that a spike or bolt may be extracted from Work in which it is embedded with but a minimum of eifort and with but a minimum of injury thereto, owing to the fact that it is extracted in a substantially rectilinear path which lies normal to the work so that no bending of the shank results.

While in the fioregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

In a spike puller, an elongated lever having a first end and a second end, fulcrum means secured to and projecting laterally from said lever near said first end, and

a jaw pivoted on a transverse axis on said lever at said first end of the lever, said jaw comprising a flat plate having a spike receiving notch opening through one side thereof and providing opposed gripping edges, said jaw plate having an inner end which is pivoted on the said one end of the lever, a flat carried by said jaw and extending transversely across said jaw in spaced relation to said transverse axis, and a leaf spring carried by said lever and extending across the flat in engagement therewith for yieldingly holding the jaw in a selected angular position relative to the longitudinal axis of the lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 129,412 Jackson July 16, 1872 463,817 Slocom Nov. 24, 1891 564,122 Thayer et a1. July 14, 1896 652,093 Diener June 19, 1900 1,221,323 Hill Apr. 3, 1917 1,396,615 Woodcock Nov. 8, 1921 FOREIGN PATENTS 263,737 Switzerland Dec. 1, 1949 

